Minus 71 degrees! Coldest village on earth (6)

If you think it is cold where you are at the moment then a visit to the Russian village of Oymyakon might just change your mind.

With the average temperature for January standing at minus 50 degrees Celsius, it is no wonder the village is the coldest permanently inhabited settlement in the world.

Known as the “Pole of Cold,” the lowest ever temperature recorded in Oymyakon was minus 71.2 degrees Celsius.

There are about 500 villagers in Oymyakon, mainly living on reindeer herding, hunting and fishing. Due to climate, villagers cannot grow crops locally. Reindeers are the main food source of the local people.

The villagers are accustomed to the cold. The only school is closed only when the temperature drops to minus 52 degrees Celsius.

The extreme cold brings inconvenience to villagers' daily life: the pen ink is easy to get frozen; it's difficult to restart a car after turning it off; battery power loses rapidly; villagers also encounter problems during the burial of the deceased.

To dig out a grave to put the coffin in, people need to repeatedly thaw frozen soil by the bonfire, which will take roughly three days. However, the cold is also the tourist attraction for Oymyakon.

Some travel companies have launched the travel tour to allow tourists to experience the life in the "Pole of Cold".